Just a Little American Quidditch
by La Artista Di Fame
Summary: AU.  It is time for the Youth International Quidditch Championships to begin in Salem Masachusettes.  Never heard of it?  Neither had the students of Hogwarts, until now.  How much different could American quidditch really be?
1. Chapter 1

**Thanks for the great responses to the first time this story was posted! I hope you all realize that it is all in good fun and I made the story after thinking there was a serious lack of international wizarding from across the pond. As I said before this story takes place in the fifth year because frankly, I can't live without my Weasley twins. No voldemort or any of that because I don't think I could do that plot line any sort of justice.**

**Okay so I completely re-wrote this whole chapter because it has been two years since the last one and my vision of the Salem Institute has changed slightly. I should be getting a new chapter up soon so please read this and enjoy!**

Chapter 1

The people of Salem Massachusetts had been whispering about the Dark Woods for as long as anybody could remember. It seemed that nobody had ever known exactly what was inside them. Rumors of people hearing the laughter of children and seeing dancing lights coming from the forest ran rampant across the town and soon a story was woven about a township that had once been built within the trees. It was said that the mayor of this township was caught cheating by his wife and in anger she took her children and burnt the entire town to the ground, leaving an army of trapped angry spirits to roam the trees together.

The town teenagers had made a game of daring one another to run in and explore, risking the wrath of what ever lay inside, but no matter how much money or taunting had been put on the line, every person who got too near the woods seemed to be hit with a feeling of paralyzing fear just as they came to the outskirts of the trees. Even the bravest of "ghost hunters" were unable to conquer their fears and enter the dark depths of the trees.

Had anybody entered those woods on the night of August 25, 1996, they would have heard the laughter and talking that people had whispered about so often. They would have undoubtedly seen many flashing lights being cast through the trees. If anybody had walked into the forest and followed those voices, followed where the lights had been coming from, they would have come upon an unknown clearing and the sprawling campus of the Salem Institute of Magic and Higher Learning in the middle of its start of term banquet .

Robes of every color swirled in the breeze as eight hundred teenagers chattered wildly about their summers and moved through the cobble-stone courtyard to the brick dining hall that sat at the center of the campus. They poured from the doors of the four dormitories where they had spent the last two days busily putting up posters and unpacking belongings in preparation for a new year. Excitement swept them all with the promise of the arrival of the new first years, the sorting into the four houses and a delicious feast sat before them.

Emerson Reynolds searched the crowds for the unmistakable forms of her best friends as she exited the ebony doors of the Maniyakal house, her burgundy robes blowing their way up and down the legs of her torn jeans as the wind caught them.

"Emmy-poo! Oh our little lady Emmy-poo!" The call rang out across the court yard and Emerson quickly located the yeller who sat straddled over the statue of Padmine the Promiscuous, his black converse kicking dully at her stone breasts. She laughed and moved towards the boy who now climbed down slowly towards the other three guys that stood below him, careful not to catch his purple Mohawk on the statue and ruin it.

"Trippe!" She exclaimed, embracing his gangly figure in a hug and ruffling his plaid robes.

"We've reached a conclusion in the past twenty minutes of being around the rest of the males in the household," Trippe's shaggy haired companion said as he hugged Emerson as well.

"And what would that be Sir Nicklaus?" she asked, playfully ruffling his blond hair which hung to his chin in dirty strands. "By the way, nice attempts at a goatee, I see you still can't grow an even patch of hair."

"We have concluded," the third boy announced, pulling his black fedora low on his bald head. "That due to the fact that ninety percent of the male population in the Maniyakal house is discussing how hot you are now that your boobs grew and you wear clothes that aren't four sizes too big, you are too attractive to hang out with us."

"Xander that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, nobody is talking about me," she laughed as they made their way into the mess hall, choosing spaces in the group of tables designated to their house.

"It's actually true," Trippe added. "One would have thought that you would have stayed a repulsive little tomboy forever." He was answered with a slap upside the head.

"But since sixteen seems to be a good year for you and you've taken to wearing make up-"

"And a bra," Xander injected, interrupting Nick.

"Yes, let us not forget the bra, you have gotten too hot and we can no longer make fart jokes and blow up toilets with you. We must instead stop talking to you for months on end save for unwelcome advances and whistles every time your robes get blown up."

"Man power!" Xander grunted and the other two grunted in response.

"I hate you guys," Emerson shook her head before launching them into a conversation about their summers.

--------------------------------

"Hurry up you old bag, I'm starving," Ron mumbled, rubbing his stomach as he watched the white haired figure of Dumbledore cast his eyes across the newly seated first years and the returning students. A sharp pain overcame his side as Hermione elbowed him even though she knew full well that he was only joking.

"Ah, and now for some extremely exciting news," Dumbledore beamed down at the students after relaying all of the usual beginning of term notes. "For some time now the Ministry of Magic has been consulting with the American Supernatural Government to arrange a very exciting event that has been going on every fifty years for the past 200 years. This year, two houses from our very own Hogwarts will be traveling to Salem, Massachusetts, America to compete in The Youth International Quidditch Championships." The Great Hall erupted into fevered discussions and cries of excitement. Dumbledore peered happily at his ecstatic students before clearing his throat which returned the Great Hall to its normal silence.

"The two houses that will be attending will be those that were the highest scoring in the last quidditch cup, which I believe to be Gryffindor and Slytherin. And while I wish we could send students of all ages, only fourth years and older will be attending this tournament," The tables at the two opposite ends of the hall erupted into more cheers, punctuated by longing groans from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw houses and anyone of the third year or younger. "Due to the lengthy nature of the competition, the competitors and their house mates will be leaving via port key at the end of the week. All classes and exams will still be conducted but according to the standards of the Salem Institute of Magic. I hope that everyone, not only members of the quidditch teams, will be taking this time to take advantage of all that America has to offer-"

"Hot girls!" Fred Weasley yelled and was high fived by his twin.

"As well as excellent food, beautiful scenery, and cozy socks Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said with a smile before finishing his speech.

"Those Americans play a dirty game of quidditch," Seamus Finnegan said before biting a chunk out of his roll. "They fouled thirty two times within the first twenty minutes of their first match in the world cup this year. Broke three ribs, two noses, and almost blinded a player from Japan."

"Best beaters in the world," Ron said with a nod.

"How can that be baby brother?" Fred asked, puffing his chest out.

"When the two of us sit right next to you?" George finished, prodding Ron sharply in the forehead.

"Don't go abandoning your family to drool over some wimpy yanks now,"

"Ronniekins needs to learn his loyalties."

"It's not loyalties," Ron said, angrily rubbing the spot he had been poked. "It's facts. If the amateurs are anything like their pros, Harry's going to be looking at another broken arm."

"Yes, let's plan for the injuries before we even get there," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"Well I personally think that it will be a great way to make international connections," Hermione piped up from next to Ron.

"I'd like to make some international connections," George said and made a thrusting motion.

"America is the only country to legally liberate house elves as well as granting squibs duel citizenship in both the muggle and magical world," she said knowingly to anybody that was still listening.

"Oh good, then there will be no need for Spew recruitment," Ron said cheerfully.

"You know that is actually a wonderful idea Ron! Getting people who already believe in the ideals of the organization to join and help promote the cause would do wonders for S.P.E.W.! I had better make more badges," She stood up hurriedly from the table and rushed out of the great hall before anyone had a chance to protest.

"Nutters, absolutely nutters," Ron groaned.

**Please review!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the reviews, here is the second chapter! Enjoy!**

Chapter 2

"-and being that this school was modeled after Hogwarts when it was originally built, it is a great honor that they will be taking part in the tournament for the first time this year," Headmaster Grey's voice projected over the crowded auditorium and for one of the first times in history, the entire student body was enraptured. No enchanted paper airplanes circled her head, no mysterious pictures appeared on the walls behind her, instead, all heads were turned towards her, all mouths were shut and all ears were open.

"The school will be expecting about one hundred and fifty guests from Hogwarts as well as the usual attendees from the West Coast Conservatory of Magical Theory and Australian Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry.I expect you all to show our guests respect and offer them friendship as well as assistance in classes and general school activities. Also, rough or unfair play will not be tolerated as loosely as it has been in the past," Her eyes cast up towards the group of Maniyakal students who were smirking from their seats.

"Don't break the Brits' noses Emerson!" Someone yelled from near the front of the room and the hall erupted in laughter.

"Than what's the point of the bludger?" she called back, a smirk on her face and the crowd cheered.

"Tackling, taunting, and jinxing of any player will result in serious penalties and the heads of the other team may not be used as kicking off boards to gain speed," Though her voice was stern, Grey's eyes held a twinkle of bemusement as smiles split across the faces of her students. "Let us remember that the American Quidditch Foundation is trying to shake the image of barbaric violence that we have gained in the past-"

"World Cup speaks differently!" Trippe yelled and was answered in cheers.

"But by all means, let us continue our winning streak and show the other schools why our youth divisions are ranked best in the world!" Grey finished triumphantly and applause erupted amongst whops from the crowd.

"Sound off!" an unknown group in the center of the crowd shouted and the rest immediately responded.

"Salem!"

"Who's house is this?"

"Our house!"

"Who's house is this?"

"Our house!"

"It's our time!"

"Our time!"

"It's our prime!"

"Our prime!"

"We'll feel this!"

"Feel this!"

"We'll be this!"

"Be this!"

"For one night!"

"One night!"

"It's our fight!"

"Our fight!"

"We will scream!"

"Will scream!"

"For this dream!"

"This dream!"

"We've earned this!"

"Earned this!"

"We own this!"

"Own this!"

"It's our house!"

"Our House!"

"Who are we?"

"Salem!"

The air was electric with excitement as the chant ended and the students filed out of the hall. The unifying cheer that signified the start to every term, every quidditch season, every year at Salem Institute rang through the ears and hearts of every student as they made their way to their dorms and tucked themselves in for the night. This was home, this was their family.

Salem Massachusettes peered out of their windows and doors at the Dark Woods. Its silence had been interrupted by a roar which sent shivers down the spines of the adults and tears to the eyes of children. The trees seemed to shake with an unknown energy and no teenagers played their foolish games of dare. They instead looked towards the darkness with fear and tried to not think about what may be laying within.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Look Harry, I'm sorry, my mother will not sign the permission form," Katie Bell's eyes were filled with tears as the dejected looking quidditch captain.

"But you have to play Katie, how am I supposed to find another chaser in a week?" Harry already was in the position of finding a keeper after Oliver's graduation last year, and now he was another player short. His first three days as captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team were shaping up to a lousy season.

"I know, I know. It's just that she started researching this place, those kids are crazy," she pleaded. "Their worse than the pros. A seeker from Australia was knocked unconscious last year and a spectator was almost killed by a bludger. She's letting me go to watch but she's scared I won't live through a match against them."

"I understand," he answered glumly. The more that he heard about the Salem Institute, the less confident he was about leaving for it in six days.

Rumors had been circulating about mid-game jinxing, disappearances, bludger-induced comas, and a particular seeker who lost an eye due to a nasty spill into the end of a broom. True or not, the whispers left a tension in the air as Harry posted the try-out sign up sheets and it seemed like a lot less people were inclined to join the team this year than any year before.

The only students who didn't quaver at the thought of the bone crushing bludgers were the Weasley twins who had become excited by the idea of a quidditch game that posed a fatal threat.

"If you die in the air Alicia," they could be heard saying at least once a day. "Do us a favor and make a goal on your way down-"

"So that you will go down as a hero, not an uncoordinated git."

These jokes were always met by an uneasy laughter from the listeners and a dirty look from whichever player happened to be at the butt of it.

It was their turn to be worried, however, when Ginny Weasley announced that she would be trying out to fill Katie's spot as the third chaser on the team.

"You can't,"  
"Mum will kill us if you go home without a limb,"

"Or dead."

"But Ron's trying out for keeper," she argued.

"Good for us,"

"We've been trying to knock him off since birth,"

"You just don't want me to play because I'm a girl,"

"Precisely."

"Now if you could go make us some pancakes that would be lovely."

Ginny didn't speak to the twins for the rest of the days up until try outs and game dangerously close to beheading Fred with her shoe during her warm up laps. But try out she did and was soon named the newest member of the team along with Ron, who only gained the position of keeper because his only competition was a third year who had tumbled off his broom within the first twenty minutes of this try outs and ended up in the hospital wing with a broken wrist.

In truth, he couldn't catch a thing and as the students made their way to the port keys that would transport them to America, Harry began to wonder how badly maimed Ron would be when they returned. He only hoped that Mrs. Weasley didn't take it out on Harry when her youngest son was given permanent brain damage.

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	3. Chapter 3

-1**New chapter! Lots of Salem Institute but not much Hogwarts, sorry about that, I'll be putting more Hogwarts in the next chapter!**

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!**

Chapter 3

"The British are coming! The British are coming!" The shriek echoed through the courtyard causing laughter amongst the students who were crowded around to welcome the visitors from the other schools.

"Leonard Hubert Trippe get down from there this instant!" Professor Fillman, the second year Magical Literature teacher, called up to the yeller who was seated once again on his favorite statue. Seeing the look in her eye, he clambered down quickly, blushing from the use of his full name.

"Yes Leonard, how could you possibly think that was a good idea?" Nick joked, ducking as Trippe took a swing at his head.

"Sir Hubert we must be setting a good example for our little guests!" Xander added and was not quick enough, receiving a loud slap to the back of the head.

"Look! Here comes West Coast!" somebody called and the three boys turned to see about a one hundred teenagers clad in navy blue robes appear suddenly in clumps of about six, each group holding a random piece of garbage.

"God I would shoot myself if we had to wear uniforms," Trippe muttered as he watched the groups fix the collared shirts and ties that sat under their robes before rushing towards the Salem students, searching the crowd for the faces of their friends that they had made in the past.

"Emerson!" a short blur of blue and blond screeched as she jumped on a prepared Emerson.

"Hey Ryin!" she smiled, hugging her cousin tightly. "How's it going? Last year huh?" she nudged Ryin who smiled brightly.

"Hell yeah! And it's shaping up to be a good one! Dad bought me a Firebolt,"

"Hopefully that will help you catch the snitch before the other team already puts too many quaffles in," Trippe said with a smirk and received an elbow to the stomach.

"Oh god if we lose every game again this year, I'm seriously castrating somebody," she huffed and the group laughed.

Ryin Shea was admittedly the best seeker at either American school. It had been five years since she had missed a snitch and never let anybody forget that. Unfortunately, the West Coast Academy was not known for their defense, or offense for that matter, and Ryin's team was currently holding a ten year losing streak because the last time they had scored with the quaffle was six years ago and nobody could recall the last time their keeper had blocked anything. Scores would often end up somewhere around 260-150, causing Ryin to spend the next three hours after the match berating her team in the locker room about stepping it up because she was obviously the only one doing her job. Last year though, after an embarrassing 730-150 loss against the Maniyakal team, she had not spoken to her team after the game. In fact she didn't speak to them for nearly a week afterwards and couldn't make eye contact with her cousin for the rest of their stay.

"Well I hate tell you Ry, but if you are playing the same guys as you had last year-" Emerson started.

"-Or the year before that," Nick added.

"-Or the year before that," Xander continued.

"You haven't got a fleeting chance at semi-finals let alone the cup," Emerson finished.

"Oh don't worry, two chasers graduated and our keeper decided that he was sick of explaining cracked ribs to the healers so we had to have trials this year. Got a few new people, muggle-borns, the chasers are brothers, used to play basketball, know something about putting the round thing in the hole-"

"And I'm sure you'd help them if they didn't," Trippe offered and was hit by both girls.

"And the keeper was a soccer player, agile, a bit small as he is a freshman, but much better than Caster's fat ass."

"Well hopefully than it will be more of a match than last years beating," Emerson caused the group to stifle a laugh and Ryin looked murderous.

"Grandma told you not to bring that up anymore."

"Oh I know but I couldn't help it," she laughed. "Won't happen again."

There was a second of silence before Emerson said, "What did we do, quadruple your score?" she was met with a rain of Ryin's fists as she blocked her face and laughed. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry I'll stop now."

"Good. Have you heard anything from the Brits yet?"

"No, but when we know how they're coming, we'll make sure to warn you with the lamps on the clock tower," Nick said.

"One if by land, two if by sea," Xander added and Ryin rolled her eyes.

"They've been making Paul Revere jokes all morning," Emerson said with annoyance. "It got old about two hours ago."

"I can imagine."

"The Aussies are here!" Trippe called and pointed to a spot in front of them where the ground seemed to giving away, dirt raining down into a hole which kept growing wider. It had reached about fifty yards in diameter as what looked like a massive, triple decker RV began to rise up from it. The door of the RV bore a coat of arms that crossed a wand with a boomerang over an aborigine war mask, painted in an olive green on the khaki colored door.

"Impressive entrance this year," Ryin said with a nod as she clapped along with the rest of the students.

"Yeah, but entrances don't make up for poor playing," Emerson commented, eliciting nods from the surrounding students.

The door opened and a wild looking man exited first wearing a safari hat and long brown robes. Professor Barbers, the headmaster, seemed to have gotten hairier since the last time that they had seen him, if that was at all possible. He stepped aside with a large grin on his face, allowing his students to exit the van in their khaki robes. There wasn't much time for introductions and hellos, however, as not five minutes after Australia's arrival, a sharp train whistle burst through the air behind them. The students turned in time to see a huge archway open in the dense trees and a shining red train come hurtling from inside. It rode on tracks which built themselves underneath the train as it went. The Hogwarts Express had completed its first journey to America.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Three doors at the front middle and back of the train sprung open and the students of Hogwarts stepped out in their black robes, looking around excitedly at the school before them.

"Bit pasty aren't they?" Trippe muttered and those close enough to hear him stifled laughs.

A tall, thin man, who looked a bit eccentric with his long hair and beard, exited last and Headmistress Grey rushed to shake his hand.

"Oh Albus I am so happy that you and your students could make it," She only rose to his shoulder but he cast warm eyes on her and ignored the hand shake, instead pulling her into a hug.

"Renee, my dear," he said with glinting eyes and a wide smile. "You look wonderful, and I must say, your students are looking quite formidable today. I do hope that my lot are up to the challenge." Headmistress Grey giggled slightly, giving her an aura of one much younger than she actually was.

"I thought I would never see it before," Nick muttered with a laugh. "Grey is actually flirting."

"Yes, with the underfed Santa Clause," Xander added and received a sharp elbow to the ribs from Emerson.

"Don't you know anything about Dumbledore?" she asked in response to his confused look. "The man is one of the greatest wizards to ever live."

"Who cares?" Trippe said plainly. "Look at those kids he brought with them, they're so squirrelly we won't even have to try to stomp them in the matches. I think they'll just curl into fetal positions and die." He was met with laughter from the group because the words he spoke were true, the Hogwarts students did seem a lot smaller and meeker than those from the other three schools. Not to mention that they were looking around as if it had been the first time that they had ever left their own campus.

"Well, it does seem to be a lot different from Hogwarts, doesn't it?" Ron said in awe as he gazed hungrily at the campus that lay in front of him.

Made completely out of brick, over a dozen large buildings filled the massive clearing. Each one was at least four stories high and had a sign in front of it that stated its name and the departments that were inside it. The entrance of each building was faced inwards to an expansive, cobble -stoned courtyard that was decorated with benches, statues and in the center, a huge fountain that spouted different colored waters from the mouth of each of the many heads of the stone hydra that sat in the center of it. Standing at least two stories high, it gave the effect of a rainbow and Ron half expected- half hoped- to find a large pot of gold at its feet. Surrounding the buildings were lush trees and grass, creating a pleasant lawn that sprung with wild flowers and scurrying animals.

"See the pitch anywhere?" George asked excitedly, looking around frantically.

"Suppose its somewhere in that direction," Fred said, motioning past the largest building- the sign in front of it saying "Hodgins Hall- Dining Hall and General Meeting Rooms."

"Supposed to be the biggest ameteur pitch in the world-"

"-Over a thousand seats-"

"-Working scoreboard and amplifying system-"

"-Just like the pros-"

"-Only better." The twins finished, faces flushed with enthusiasm. The Gryffindors seemed to have gained a new burst of energy from this information and the entire team started to crane their necks expectantly, hoping to catch site of such an amazing place to play.

"Bit more ragged looking than I expected," Draco Malfoy's drawling voice was unmistakable as he addressed the surrounding Slytherins. "I suppose it is all you can expect from filthy American's though. From what I've heard, everyone is a bit savage out here." He was speaking a little too loudly for his own good and the individuals from the Salem Institute and the West Coast Academy that were close enough to hear him shot him vicious glances and began whispering behind their hands.

"Well it will do no good to all stand out here," Headmistress Grey announced, her voice suddenly magnified across the courtyard. "Let us all adjourn to Hodgins Hall for a feast and some entertainment. If the Gryffindors would please join the Maniyakal house who will be hosting them this year, Slytherins, you will be with the Dragoneus house, Austrailia will be with their old friends the Ballistykin, and finally West Coast will be once again enjoying the company of the Sirytinius house."

The Hogwarts students looked somewhat confused, not knowing at all which groups they were supposed to be joining and instead decided to follow the mass group of students as they moved towards the building. Inside they were met with a huge hall that was at least double the size of the one they had at home. It was filled from wall to wall with groups of circular tables that seemed to be split into four different groups of various colors. Each group had a huge banner hovering it which bore the name of the house and a moving picture of its mascot. The first was a grouping of black tables that bore the name of the Maniyakal and a picture of a great manticore, clicking its pincers menacingly. The next was the blue Sirytinus house with their mascot a siren. Also was the green dragons of Dragoneus and finally the red basilisks of Ballistykin. Slightly unsure of themselves, the two houses of Hogwarts found the group that they had been assigned to and sat down among the chattering students.

"Hello my dear Brits!" Trippe said cheerily as the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione joined the table that held the Maniyakal first string quidditch team.

"Yanks!" Fred and George said together excitedly. "Pleasure to meet you!" they took turns shaking the hands around them.

"I'm Fred-,"

"And I'm George-,"

"These are our baby siblings-,"

"And their baby friends-,"

"Tell us now-,"

"How do you feel about joke shops-,"

"And mischief in general?"

Xander and Nick shot each other excited glances before launching into a discussion with the twins about business ventures and skiving snack boxes.

"Bridgett, where's Em?" Trippe asked of the chaser that sat across from him.

"Getting ready for the dance department presentation I suspect," The brunette said with a New York accent. "Oh stop that, she's been doing it since she was born," she scolded when he rolled his eyes.

"Don't know why, too good of a quidditch player to spend time on anything else," he muttered before turning to the Hogwarts boy next to him. "Hello there, I'm Trippe, seeker for the house team."

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter, seeker as well," he said, shaking Trippe's outstretched hand. For the first time in his life, nobody turned to him in shock when he said his name and Harry began to like America a whole lot more.

"Ready to miss the snitch?" Trippe asked excitedly and was shot a slight glare from Ron and Ginny.

"No, actually, I plan on catching it, every last one," Harry replied smoothly, obviously not as offended as his friends were by the jest.

"Ah, I wouldn't be so sure of that," Trippe smiled knowingly. "I personally myself have only missed six snitches in all of the games that I have played at this school, and the only reason why I have missed those is because of that girl right over there."

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny turned to where he was pointing to Ryin, telling an animated story at the blue Sirytinius tables.

"Who is that?" Ron asked, craning to get a good look at her.

"Ryin Shea, seeker for West Coast Academy's purple team, admittedly the best seeker in the country. Hasn't missed a snitch in her entire career, mind you, her team is complete rubbish and hasn't won a match in over a decade, but she is an extraordinary player. Nasty temper as well."

"Exactly how nasty of one?" Ginny asked slowly.

"Let me put it this way," Bridgett said, joining the conversation. "If you have a chance of catching the snitch before she does Harry, I would try blocking your ribs."

"Or your nose," Trippe added and Harry swallowed hard.

"Why is there so much violence allowed out here?" Hermione asked snobbishly.

"Violence?" Xander asked, catching the tail end of the conversation. "There's no violence out here!"

"Maybe a few broken bones," A good looking blonde, male chaser named Alecks added.

"Perhaps a few well cast jinxes," the third, sharp faced Hispanic chaser, Isabella, continued.

"But not violence," Xander finished innocently

"Just good clean fun," Trippe flashed a toothy smile at the worried looking Gryffindors.

"Except when Emerson and I are involved," The other beater, a rather large black boy, named Mike said with a laugh that spread to the entire Maniyakal team, leaving the Gryffindors in nervous giggles. Ron looked like he was about to be sick.

"Where is this Emerson bloke we've heard so much about?" George asked curiously.

"Yeah, everyone's been telling us that he is somewhat of a monster on the field," Fred added.

"Emerson _bloke?"_ Nick asked, exchanging amused glances with the rest of the team. He opened his mouth, as if to correct the twins' gender mistake but Xander interrupted him.

"Oh, you'll meet Emerson soon enough, a bit busy at the moment,"

"But will be around by the end of the night," Trippe said with a twinkle in his eye as he looked down at the empty chair on his left side. The twins nodded, not suspecting a thing.

Across the room, the Slytherins seemed to be having a much harder time at fitting in with the American students who looked at the haughty house with annoyance and disbelief.

"Well I'm currently riding a Nimbus 2001," Draco drawled on, believing that the sentence would impress the pretty Dragoneus keeper that was sitting next to him.

"Is that all you can handle?" she asked incredulously, one eyebrow arched. "You brits really are pussies." She was answered with gales of laughter from the table around her and Malfoy, as well as the rest of the Slytherin team turned pink. He was not able to respond, however because Headmistress Grey rose to her feet at the long, raised table that sat behind a the vast stage at the front of the hall.

"Welcome everyone to the Salem Institute of Magic!" she said with a broad smile. "I am so pleased that we will be sharing our campus with so many new faces this year and will be able to make ties with students of such wonderful schools. As many of you already know, each year we like to put together a small presentation to introduce ourselves before the opening feast. So without any further ado I would like to introduce the talented musicians of our Salem Orchestra and the lovely ladies of our dance department!"

She waved her wand and small clumps of blurred sparkles began gathering on the stage in front of her, they undulated and swirled, growing bigger and bigger until they burst, revealing an orchestra of nearly fifty people in it and a group of twelve girls wearing pointe shoes and short wispy black dresses. The students of Hogwarts let out gasps and sighs but those of the other schools smiled knowingly, having seen this before. The orchestra began with a cheerful waltz as the dancers stretched and spun gracefully to the music, there bodies lithely jumping across the stage. With a final long low note, the sparkled curtain appeared once again, misting across the performers. Somewhere near the back of the orchestra a voice called out, "1234!" and the orchestra burst into a fast song that Trippe noted sounded vaguely like "Fire" by Jimi Hendrix. The dancers, whose pointe shoes seemed to have disappeared, stood barefoot as they moved to the music impressively. Nick and Xander pointed out Emerson who stood near the back, pulling her leg well over her head into an impressive extension. After a huge finale including several very high jumps and the a feat of flexibility that made the Weasley twins wiggle their eyebrows, the groups vanished behind the sparkled mist once again and the hall broke into tumultuous applause, punctuated with hoots and hollers.

"Thank you! Thank you! What a wonderful display of the many talents that we have here at the Salem Institute!" Grey said clapping her hands together furiously. "Now, I would like you to enjoy the feast that we have prepared for you and take this time to get to know one another and truly enjoy yourselves. Quidditch team captains please remember that after the feast we will be meeting on the pitch to discuss the tournament. And now, we eat!" She clapped twice and from the high vaulted ceiling, came large dishes of mashed potatoes, pasta, meats, and any other food you could possible eat, floating gently to the tables amid gasps of awe from the visiting students.

"How'd it look?" Emerson asked breathlessly as she slid into the chair next to Trippe, once again clothed in black, pin striped robes.

"I love it when you guys do those bendy things," Xander said with a growl and the girls at the table shot him disgusted glances.

"Oh hello!" she said, suddenly realizing that their normal table was joined by the newcomers. "Enjoying America are you?"

"More so now," George Weasley said with a grin, extending his hand to hers. "I'm George Weasley, Gryffindor beater extraordinaire and this is my brother Fred," he took her hand and kissed it lightly. The others at the table exchanged glances and stifled sniggers. "We enjoyed your performance very much. Such grace, such beauty."

Emerson opened her mouth to introduce herself but was interrupted by Fred who was looking around. "Don't suppose that bloke Emerson has turned up yet has he? Would like to see just how apparently frightening this guy is." Emerson's brow furrowed and she shot a glance at her team who were shaking with laughter.

"Highly doubt he has really injured as many people as they say," George said. "Nothing that I couldn't handle," he flashed Emerson a grin and began flexing his muscles slightly. Ginny and Hermione looked slightly appalled.

"Actually, I think you can meet Emerson right now," Trippe offered.

"Oh really?" Harry asked excitedly. "Where is he at?"

"I'm Emerson," she said and twins coughed, Ron who had been taking a drink of his pumpkin juice spluttered and choked stupidly, Ginny dropped her fork and Hermione gave a satisfied smile.

"Well, um, Miss Emerson," Fred said with a smile, exchanging glances with George. "Glad to see that your reputation precedes you."

"What?" she asked, noticing that the twins were still exchanging glances with each other, trying to with hold laughter. "Do you think I'm incapable of being a beater because I'm not a blundering imbecile of a man?" They didn't respond.

"They really shouldn't second guess her," Mike said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Last person who did that ended up not waking up for a week," Isabella added.

"Bludger to the head," he nodded.

"Weren't you dating him at the time?" Bridgette asked.

"Not after he woke up," Emerson said with a smirk.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"They seem a little, well, brutal, wouldn't you say?" Hermione muttered nervously as she watched the twins banter animatedly with the Maniyakal team.

"Easy for your to say, you don't have to play against them," Ron's shoved his last bite of mashed potatoes in his mouth just as the dinner dishes were levitating from the tables and being replaced with desert. "Absolutely mental. I'm going to be killed."

"Oh god, they aren't that bad," Ginny said, piling ice cream on her plate. "Besides, they only attack people that are doing well, and seeing as you can't really catch, you should be fine."

"Ginny, piss off would you?" his face turned an angry red.

"You know, I was reading about this school," Hermione said and ignored Ron rolling his eyes. "Bloodiest school history in the past two hundred years, people jinxing each other like mad. And not even just with quidditch, random attacks in the hallway, very hands-on defense against the dark arts, people take it a little too far sometimes."

"Fantastic," Ron groaned. "Now, if by an off chance I do catch something and we win, I'll have to watch out for stray jinxes from angry fans everywhere I go."

"Wait," Harry, who had been joking with the others, turned to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny's conversation. "They jinx the other teams when they win?"

"Oh no, they just jinx everybody," Ginny said mocking reassurance.

"Right, well, who else is ready to go home?" Ron asked, placing his hands on the table.

"Now now my dear Britty Brits," Apparently Nick and Xander had been listening to the conversation that had been taking place at the other side of the table and they now grinned evilly at them. "No need to be worry warts and spoil sports."

"We've been put under rules, we have," Nick said with a nod. "Any irrational jinxing of foreign students qualifies in severe punishment."

"And as we have better things to do with our nightly hours then scrubbing ancient crap, we shall be behaving ourselves."

"Although, we can't speak for our dear friends here."

"Oh, look, the dessert is done," Emerson said and the plates were indeed zooming from the tables. "Come on Harry, time for the captains to meet at the pitch."

They stood and followed the other eight captains rising from their tables out the front doors of the hall.

"Don't suppose they're taking them out there to beat him to death do you?" Ron joked glumly. "Break us down before we even get a chance to play."

"Oh honestly Ron, stop worrying about the game and enjoy the trip instead," Hermione said.

"But you were the one that told me about the jinxing!"

"And it seems that I made a mistake. Besides, its also one of the most culturally rich schools in the world. Classes in the fine arts and English-"

"I know how to speak bloody English."

"Literature Ronald, literature!"

"Not to mention a huge market for joke goods!" George jumped into the conversation, he and Fred were grinning happily. "These yanks have an uncanny amount of gold on them."

"Just sold a fortunes worth of skiving snack boxes," Fred said happily.

"Not to mention about a thousand fake wands, canary creams, and smart-answer quills."

"Going to have enough to fund a few new broomsticks soon I think," Fred jiggled a bulging money bag.

"Now really, you two shouldn't be ruining the Hogwarts name by peddling that nonsense," Hermione scolded, sounding remarkably like Mrs. Weasley.

"Ruining the name?" Fred sounded offended. "If anything we're helping it."

"Do you have any idea how complicated the charms in these things are?" George asked incredulously.

"Too many explosions to count before we got these right."

"Not to mention some nasty boils-"

"And feathers that stuck around for weeks."

"These are quality products."

"It really is quite impressive," Ginny said with a shrug and Hermione hmphed.

----------------------------------------------------------

"You know, we're really not as brutal as we try to convince you," Emerson assured Harry as they followed the other captains down a winding path through the trees. "It's all just for scare. Get you worked up enough before the first match to throw you off your game."

"Right, well if you didn't kill one of my players I would appre- wow!" Emerson laughed as the quidditch stadium came into view and Harry saw it.

It stood over fifty feet high, a great structure made of dark polished wood and steel. There were four banners hanging off of it that were colored for each of the houses and held a picture of the mascot on it. Three arches of at least twelve feet high opened towards them, lined with a wood that was carved with the words to what seemed like some motivational poem that Harry didn't recognize. As they entered through one of the great arched doorways and stepped onto the smooth field, he saw that there were at least fifteen hundred seats, all heavily cushioned and covered with a shiny dark green fabric, complete with a cup holder in each arm rest. The seats were broken apart sporadically by what looked like food and merchandise stands with funny names such as "Bill's Bludger Burgers" and "Fan Fare and Wear". On either end of the field were the fifty foot high goal posts which seemed to be made out of steel and behind both of them were massive scoreboards that were currently blank. Standing at the middle of the field were Dumbledore, the heads of both the Australian and West Coast Academys, Professor Grey, two professionally dressed wizards and a witch that Harry didn't recognize, and, to Harry's mild surprise, Ludo Bagman, who was bouncing happily on his toes.

Harry looked at the other nine captains that walked with him, Emerson was laughing and joking with the girl Ryin who Trippe had pointed out to him at dinner, Malfoy was engaging the captains of the Australian Academy in conversation, both were very tan boys, one with spiky brown hair and standing very tall, the other slightly shorter with earlobe brushing blonde hair almost as light as Draco's. The other captain from West Coast Academy was very muscular and quite squared in shape with a full goatee and mustache, he was talking heatedly with the small, scrawny boy from the Ballistykin, and the very pretty red headed girl from Sirytinius was holding hands with the broad shouldered black boy from Dragoneus as they gazed happily at one another.

"Ah, and here our are captains!" One of the unknown wizards saw, a smile spread across pale face. He had dark hair cropped close to his head and shining brown eyes. He was very tall, only a few inches shy of Dumbledore, but a lot rounder in his mid-section which were covered in charcoal grey robes. "For those of you that don't know me, my name is Abram Felix, American Governor of Magic. Let me also introduce our wonderful head of games and sports, Ms. Mina Arev," he motioned toward the thin, east Indian witch standing next to him. "Australia's head of sports and games, Asher Rammy-" A squat wizard wearing deep brown robes, "And Ludo Bagman, England's head of sports and games." Ludo waved excitedly at Harry.

"I am pleased to welcome the teams from Hogwarts, it is such a joy to include a group from Europe, first time in twenty years," Harry found Governor Felix to be much more likeable than his own Minister of Magic, Fudge. "Now, for the rules and schedules! If you will please Ms. Arev."

"Now, we should have ten captains here correct? Two teams from each school, four from last years winners. Emerson from Maniyakal, Meyers from Dragoneus, Yoshimi from Ballistykin, O'Connelly from Sirytinius, Aace from Australia Green, Petros from Australia brown, Ryin from West Coast Blue, Valentino from West Coast Silver, Potter for Gryffindor and Malfoy from Slytherin," She pointed to them each as she said their names, taking a mental roll call. "Right, well each team will be playing nine matches, one against each team, forty-five in all, the teams with the top four scores will then play three more games, one against each other, and finally the two out of those with the highest scores will play a final match. The winner of that will win the cup and the glory for their school." Harry stole a quick look at the other captains and saw that Malfoy also seemed to be worried about the number of games they were supposed to be playing, much more than they ever had before, but the others looked as if it was no news to them, undoubtedly they always played this many games in this tournament. She waved her wand and a stack of papers appeared next to her, she grabbed them and handed a packet to each captain. "In there you will find game schedules and a complete list of the rules. Some of you will do to take a good hard look at the fouls section," she cast an amused eye towards Emerson who smiled sweetly. "Training schedule requests must be submitted to me by nine am on Sunday and field bookings will be announced on Monday morning. Oh and Gryffindor and Slytherin needs to submit a roster for their reserve players."

"Reserves?" Malfoy asked incredulously and Harry had a terrible sinking feeling in his stomach. It had been hard enough for him to find players for the regular team let alone the reserves.

"Miss, we weren't told we were required to have those," Harry said politely, glancing at Dumbledore.

"Well, no, they aren't required but its, well, recommended," she stated and the other captains nodded furiously.

"Oh come on, this is the great Harry Potter," Emerson said, clapping him on the shoulder. It was the first time that anybody had made a comment about who he was since he had arrived at the school. "Surely he doesn't need reserves. The man vanquished what's-his-mort and what not."

Harry felt himself turn red as Malfoy sneered, Dumbledore's eyes seemed to laugh, and the government wizards smirked.

"Well, either way, if you do decide to recruit a reserve team, their names will need to be submitted by the start of the first match on October 27," Arev stated.

"First match, that's me and you Slythipoo," Emerson stated happily, nudging his elbow. His eyes widened as he looked for the first time at the schedule in his hand.

"Wait, no, I can't play the first match," he said with panic.

"No changing it now, entire schedule is already set," Bagman said with excitement.

"These matches will not be moved or exchanged for any reason short of death," Arev said sternly, reminding Harry very much of Professor McGonagall.

Draco nodded but Harry thought he distinctly heard him say something like "that could be arranged."

"Well, if there are no other questions, I think it's safe to send you back to your dorms,"

Emerson and Harry made their way back up to the main campus in silence. Harry didn't know how his team would react to them playing to many games. He wouldn't have been so worried if Wood and Katie were still on the team but he felt lost without them playing. If Wood was still there he, Harry, wouldn't have to be bothering with practice schedules and try-outs and all of the random stuff that he felt like was piling on him. He felt in over his head and that was quite a queasy feeling to have.

"You look worried," Emerson said as they passed the dining hall and moved into the courtyard.

"Just…overwhelmed," he stated truthfully and she nodded. "First year captain, ya know?"

"Well, don't worry," she clapped him on the back once again. "You guys should be fine, and if not, we'll try to not mock you too badly." The smile she flashed him did nothing to ease his nerves as they stepped inside a five-story building. They hadn't even stepped two feet into it when a loud voice yelled excitedly.

"Emerson's back! Let the weekend of gluttony begin!"


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Sorry this update took so long, I was observing the Writer's Strike and attempting to get higher pay from But then i realized that they aren't paying me at all and I halted all negotiations to bring you this... enjoy!**

Chapter 6

Harry only had a couple of seconds to see that he was in a huge room furnished in black and white, the hardwood floors were covered in shaggy area rugs and there were three doors leading from it as well as a huge ebony staircase up to the other floors. Many pairs of hands grabbed him and Emerson and pulled them to the center of the room.

"Have the rations been secured?" Emerson asked excitedly to the mix of smiling Maniyakal faces and slightly confused Gryffindors.

"You know it! A delightful mix of keg, bottle, and any sort of junk food imaginable," Isabella said with a satisfied smile.

It was at this point that Harry was able to look around and see the tables laden with pizza boxes, chips, cookies, cakes and ice cream amongst many bottles of what could only be alcohols and three silver barrels on ice.

"Okay and what the hell are we listening to?" Emerson asked, referring to the heavily based music that was blasting through the room.

"You got a problem with it?" Mike, the other burly beater asked, a wide smile on his face as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Dude, how many times do I have to tell you to not bump the booty music? My house, my party, my tunes!" She pulled a wand from the depths of her robes and waved it. Instantly the "booty music" was replaced by a fast guitar and drums.

"Punk rock!" Trippe yelled climbing on top of a tall bookshelf.

"Let the gluttony begin!" Emerson yelled, answered by thunderous cheers and people handing out drinks and food.

"What exactly is going on?" Harry asked to anyone who was listening.

"Weekend of gluttony!" Xander said happily, shoving a plastic cup of foaming liquid into his hand.

"Greatest time of the year," Nick said with a nod.

"Maniyakal goes on a crazy diet for training: no sweets, no cheese, no red meat, no refined wheat,"

"So before this craziness begins and ruins the lives of seven people for eight months,"

"One weekend is spent in perpetual party mode, stuffing our faces and getting shit faced drunk with no inhibitions."

"But, you two aren't even on the team," Harry's beer was still untouched.

"Who cares? What's a party with only seven people?" Xander shrugged, demolishing a slice of pizza in two bites. "The whole house parties at this time."

"In face, most of the school does, we here in the Maniyakal house just provide a means for the madness," Nick smiled, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "Now do us a favor and enjoy your three days of complete craziness!"

Harry looked around and saw his fellow Gryffindors enjoying themselves. Fred and George were chugging each of their second cup of beer while Lee Jordan was doing a shot with a gangly blond Maniyakal boy. Neville was sipping his drink warily, his face pulling into disgusting contortions with every swallow. A pretty girl in glasses was flirting with him, making him stutter and sweat, something which caused her to flirt even more. The only person who didn't seem to be having a god time was Hermione who looked around at the others, positively furious.

"Ronald! Will you stop being such a pig? We just ate!" she said hotly as the red head stacked two slices of pizza and began eating them at the same time.

"Oh bugger off would you?" he groaned and she flounced off in a huff. "What's wrong Harry? Haven't touched your beer." He took a great gulp of his own cup.

"Butterbeer?" Harry asked hopefully, sniffing the liquid. It definitely did not smell like butterbeer.

"Nah, I think they said it was Budweiser," Ron took another drink and shuddered slightly. "Tastes bloody terrible but enough will knock you off your rocker. Cheers Mate!" He lifted his glass and drained it before moving towards where Xander was filling glasses from one of the silver barrels.

It wasn't long before the room was filled with laughing, stumbling teenagers, falling all over each other and dancing wildly. Hermione, who had vehemently refused to drink watched with disgust as Ron fell out of a keg stand, giggling uncontrollably as Seamus and Dean, who were unable to hold him up, fell over him as they too dissolved into laughter.

"Oi love, you are looking quite sullen," Nick's smiling face appeared beside her as he and Xander sat on either side.

"This is barbaric! Why haven't any teachers been by to stop this?" she seethed, which only seemed to broaden the two boys' smiles.

"Oh they let us go about this every year, figure its better we do it in the school rather than out," Xander shrugged.

"Well it shouldn't happen either way!"

"Now, now, kids are kids. We must let them frolic, play and make bad decisions," Nick smirked.

"And I don't suppose you two have a reason for not participating in this nonsense?" It was true, while they had willingly doled out the alcohol to other students, the two had not taken a drink themselves all night.

"Well, Xander here is allergic and I personally can't get past the taste."

"So instead we watch how stupid they all get and then recount these moments quite loudly over breakfast on Monday morning while they nurse hangovers and bruised egos."

"A cruel job, but somebody has got to do it," Nick's wide smile looked as if he did not find it cruel at all.

"Oh, I do believe our friends from around the campus have arrived," Xander looked toward the door and Hermione followed his gaze to see that many individuals from other houses and schools were entering. There seemed to be no Slytherin representatives.

"Ah yes and our lovely Ryin Shea seems to be turning on the charm again," Nick chuckled and Hermione looked around to realize that a group of slack jawed boys were surrounding the giggling blond girl. Ron was among them.

"Charm?" Hermione asked angrily as Ron flexed his muscles, stumbling slightly.

"Yes, our lovely Ms. Shea is part veela," Xander nodded.

"And of course, as Emerson in her cousin, she is too," Nick added.

"Emerson? But she doesn't look it!" Hermione pulled her eyes from Ron in shock.

"No, I don't suppose she does conventionally, but she is gorgeous, just a bit darker in hair and complexion than most." Nick scratched his chin.

"You see, because Ryin got it on her mother's side and Emerson got it on her father's side, they both got different aspects of it," Xander explained.

"Ryin got the obvious looks and the charm"

"And Emerson got the dancing. Although she has grown into the looks, hasn't she?"

"They both have the rage though."

"Yes, bloody terrifying when angry, both of them."Both boys nodded thoughtfully.

"I want to dance!" Emerson yelled, her words slurring as she stumbled. She could barely walk and Hermione doubted heavily she would do much better at dancing.

"Booty music time!" Mike yelled happily and waved his wand. The room was filled with the sounds of "Now Drop" by Timbaland and Emerson shrieked with delight.

Her drunken stumbles were replaces with a gracefully seductive hip motion that seemed to entrance those boys that were not already occupied with Ryin. All of them seemed inclined to move towards her and dance with her but the first one to do it was one of the Weasley twins who grabbed her hips and began to move with her. There were many looks of contempt shot at him.

"This is ridiculous," Hermione crossed her arms and legs so tightly it looked as if she were trying to tie herself into a knot.

"Now now my dear, its all in good fun," Xander said.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"And nothing beats your proposal to Emerson, George," Xander said loudly, pointing to the droopy eyed twin who flinched slightly at the noise.

"Or yours, Fred," Nick laughed as the other twin rubbed his temples.

"By Saturday, our drunken Emerson was convinced she was marrying both twins,"

"Which neither would have minded," the table laughed feebly, as they all looked close to vomiting.

It had been an hour at breakfast full of Xander and Nick recounting the weekends drunken moments to the mixture of students in the hall, most were only picking feebly at toast and had only come down to breakfast to make sure that they hadn't done anything or anyone that would haunt them later.

Harry was resting a heavy head on his arm next to Ron who had two black eyes from his indoor broomstick race with Trippe that had resulted in him hitting the top part of a door jam. Hermione was fully capable of healing him but had refused, saying that it was his own fault for drinking and flying. He had been scared that everyone else that offered was far too drunk to aim correctly.

"Where is Emerson anyways?" Isabella asked as she looked around drowsily.

"I don't know, hasn't been down all morning," Mike shrugged.

"Awesome, that means I can have one last real meal before she goes all sugar Nazi on us," Alecks the chaser said and began piling pancakes on his plate.

"Maniyakal players, your diet starts today," Emerson had appeared out of no where and vanished the pancakes before Alecks had taken even the first bite. She placed an apple on his plate instead, ignore his groan. "Here are your training schedules. We don't have the pitch today so we'll be doing laps around the school starting at three."

"Flying?" Bridgett asked hopefully as Emerson handed out the schedules.

"No, running," Emerson said and the team groaned. "We will also be doing weight training tonight, all except Trippe who will be meeting with Professor Graciella for flexibility training. We will not be starting with brooms until tomorrow. Any questions?"

"Yeah, when's the wedding?" Nick said loudly and the table laughed.

"Oh, with my twins I suppose," she asked coolly. It appeared that opposed to the rest of the school, she was completely unembarrassed and non-hungover. "Well, I assure you that after we slaughter them this year, they'll be rethinking the engagement."

"As long as you keep dancing, that's doubtful," George said wiggling his eyebrows.

"How do you expect to last matrimony once I break every bone in your body?" she asked cheerfully and was pleased with their lack of response.

"How come she's so awake and happy?" Dean asked angrily.

"She is an anomaly," Xander answered.

"Has never had a hangover," Nick added.

"Gets up every morning before breakfast for Ballet,"

"Goes to sleep long after everyone,"

"Never complains,"

"Lack of sleep adds to the temper though,"

"And it looks like a harsh one this year,"

"Beware Gryffindors, beware."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Perhaps it was due to everything that they had been told about them, perhaps it was due to their playful threats, perhaps it was due to Harry's nerves as a first time captain with a rookie team. Whatever it was, while the Gryffindor quidditch team took their three hours on the main field that first Monday evening of practice, they couldn't help but be intimidated by the jogging black group that was the Maniyakal team. They wore identical sweat suits of a deep black with their names stitched on the back in white above a menacing looking manticore and Emerson had performed a tricky spell which made music follow them wherever they went, playing tunes such as "We Will Rock You" and "Down With the Sickness" By their third lap- which had to bring the grand total to about five miles- and Trippe pointing wickedly at Harry as they passed to the voice of Wayne Static saying "He's a loser!" the Gryffindors seemed to be too anxious to practice correctly, causing Ron to turn a violent shade of green, the twins to begin bickering unstoppably and Harry begin to wish that he was back in his old quidditch pitch across the ocean.

It was a very down trodden team that shuffled their way into the locker rooms after practice, made worse as they passed the weight room where the Maniyakal team stopped their lifting to smile tauntingly as the Gryffindors passed. Harry was not surprised when Ron ducked into the bathroom and horrible retching noises could be heard. They dressed in silence and were halfway to the dinner hall before anyone spoke.

"Harry, we need to talk strategy," George Weasley said earnestly as he and Fred came level with the exhausted captain.

"Those guys are crazy," Fred said. "We were talking to a couple people in the house and a first year let slip their training routine."

"Team diets, practice six days a week, strength training, the best brooms that money can buy,"

"Dance classes,"

"Dance classes?" Harry asked, confused.

"Yeah, dance classes," George said. "Sounds completely mental but they say it helps them to 'move with the air'." Harry stifled a laugh when he saw that neither of the twins were laughing. They actually looked more serious than he had ever seen them.

"There is no beating them with the three times a week regimen," Fred continued. "They'll kill us when we play them."

Harry looked into the two identical pairs of brown eyes and saw the gnawing worry in his own stomach reflected in them.

"Alright," He said. "I'll see what I can do about the practice schedule."

"The two of us and Lee are going to go down to the main pitch tomorrow to see what they look like in the air," Fred said.

"But we don't expect it to be pretty," George added.

"We'll let you know what happens," With Fred's final words, they broke away from the group to where Lee was sitting and immediately huddled in deep conversation.

The entire house seemed subdued at dinner, but it was not only due to the Maniyakal team. Apparently small groups of students had gone to watch the West Coast Academy Silver practice on practice field 1 and the Sirytinius practice on field 2, hoping to glimpse quaffle fumbles and poor form, they were very wrong.

"That Shea girl from West Coast," Seamus whispered feveredly to anyone that would listen. "I've never seen anyone move like that. She caught the thing in two minutes flat. Two minutes! And it was a bloody fast snitch!"

"They were nothing but blurs, blue blurs," Lavender Brown said of the Sirytinius team. "Made three goals before I had the chance to even see that the quaffle was on that end."

"Mind you that was including the twenty saves that O'Connelly made," Pavarti added.

The whispers were interrupted by the loud cheers and cat calls that announced the entrance of the Maniyakal team. The smug smiles plastered on their faces held no trace of any hangover they had earlier in the day and they held the glow of a team that had already won. And perhaps they had, already having intimidated everyone after just three hours of practice- practice that didn't include flying. Harry no longer felt very hungry and almost joined Ron as he rushed out of the hall, his face a gentle shade of green.

The rest of the Maniyakal house rushed to pull out the chairs of the seven team members, serving them their food as if they were house elves. A first year girl almost fainted when Trippe winked at her and others muttered about asking for autographs. Harry thought of Victor Krum at the school last year and wondered if the team was just as famous in America

----------------------------------------------

Harry's question of fame was answered the following day on his way to breakfast with Ron and Hermione. Their way was impeded to by the huge crowd that had formed in the courtyard, all excitedly watching something.

"Oh honestly!" Hermione groaned in frustration when they had pushed to the front of the crowd and saw what was going on.

Emerson and Trippe were standing in their warm up suits next to a big haired blonde witch in short, teal robes that fell way above her knee, showing of long, toned legs. A young, scruffy looking wizard was holding what looked like a bright purple muggle TV camera that was issuing a stream of small bubbles from a whirring wheel perched on top.

"And how do you feel that the presence of the teams from Hogwarts will affect your winning streak in this season's tournament?" The witch asked, her voice a smooth, delightful tone.

"It won't," Trippe answered confidently. "We are training harder than ever this year to bring the Maniyakal victory that we know is ours."

"What Trippe means to say," Emerson cut in. "Is that we take the fifty year winning streak that we are facing very seriously and though we will not take the skill of our new competitors for granted, we are taking the appropriate measures to ensure that we will not be outshone in our matches against them."

"Well you two sound very confident and I must say, I can see why," The witch smiled at the two. "One thing that could work to your disadvantage, however, is the loss of your sponsorship from the Nimbus Company due to perceived foul play mainly from your end Ms. Reynolds. What can you say regarding this matter and how the loss of the new Nimbus 3000 SuperSport could affect the speed of your flying?"

"Well Meg," Emerson said addressing the reporter. Harry noticed that she and Trippe seemed to have been doing this publicity thing for a while, as they were completely comfortable in front of the camera. "We were very disappointed with the loss of support but we can't say that we hadn't been expecting it. The Nimbus line has been moving from the sports industry to that of family pleasure over the past few years and the Maniyakal style of playing doesn't fit with these ideals. Fortunately enough, however, we received word last month that with the release of the new Firebolt Enigma racing broom, calculated as the fastest on the market, the makers contacted us on the possibility of being the face of their high school campaign. We have accepted and will begin publicity for this sponsorship near the beginning of October."

"And we have already received our shipment of brooms for the entire team and will begin practicing on them today," Trippe said. "I expect the spectators won't be able to even see us during the matches we will be going so fast."

"Fantastic! The Firebolt Company is known for a competitive streak so you all should be a perfect addition to the family. Does this mean you will not be watering down your, well, aggressive play style?"

"Of course not! We are Maniyakal for a reason and we will uphold the standards of our house, school and team history," Emerson and Trippe smiled at each other.

"Well there you have it, the first of our weekly updates on the Youth International Quidditch Championships! I'm Meg Ignitus and you are watching channel seven Magic Minute News Briefs," The reporter said, facing the camera.

"Come on," Harry said, unnerved by what he had seen. He attempted to push through the crowd but it was so dense that they could barely move and were soon intercepted by the Weasley twins and Ginny, all looking just as uneasy as Harry felt.

"Ridiculous," George spat. "Brand new Firebolt Enigmas. That's more money than I've ever even imagined spending on quidditch."

"But of course they didn't spend it," Fred said venomously. "Sponsorships, bloody hell. Only Yanks would think up something crazy like sponsoring an amateur team."

"But that can't possibly be allowed! To have a sponsorship is to be classified as professional. This certainly can't be fair," Hermione said with frustration but the three Weasley's shook their head.

"We thought that too but we looked it up, it's allowed out here," Fred said.

"And it's not just the broomsticks either," Ginny spat bitterly. "Robes, shoes, pads. Everything they wear has some corporate logo on it."

"Including the stadium," George added. "Built with the money they have been getting for winning. I'm surprised it doesn't say 'Home of Emerson Reynolds' on the outside."

"Well this can't all be because of the teams play," Hermione rationalized. "I mean, can a team be that good?"

"They can be, but I don't think that's what it is," Harry said as he watched Ryin Shea approach Emerson. Immediately Ron began smoothing his hair and ignoring the conversation taking place next to him.

"Oh it's not," Ginny said, obviously coming to the point that they were hoping to make all along. "The Maniyakal team has been captained by members of the same four families since the school came about, Reynolds, Mirriman, VonWinston, and Caterol."

"But those are all- No! That couldn't be!" Hermione seemed to have caught onto something that Harry hadn't but by the grave looks on the other threes faces, they knew what she was talking about.

"What?" Harry asked impatiently.

"That would be considered foul play if they were seriously using that," she continued, still not giving any answers.

"They might not be using it in games, but it definitely has to do with the public support," Fred said.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Harry asked with annoyance.

"The four families- Reynolds, Mirriman, VonWinston, and Caterol- are all major descendants from the Veela lines. They keep up their heritage by marrying more veela every few generations," Hermione clarified.

"Wait, you think they are using that to get support?" he asked but he knew that it all fit.

"The charm definitely would help in wooing corporate heads," Fred muttered, glaring darkly at Emerson who was making her way to the group.

"Hey guys!" she said cheerily, Trippe and Ryin tailing after her. "Want to join us for breakfast?"

"No," Hermione and Ginny said together but were not heard over the males enthusiastically complying. Their angry demeanors seemed to slacken in front of the two and it was clear that they must have been using their charms.

"For Merlin's sake!" Ginny said angrily as the four boys followed after the two girls like puppies.

"Sad really," The girls jumped slightly, not realizing that Trippe had stayed next to them. "Boys must not be used to being around that type of heritage."

"Well they should really stop turning that nonsense on around them!" Hermione spat and Ginny nodded in furious agreement.

"They get their kicks out of it," Trippe shrugged. "Emerson is just starting to get hers so she sort of abuses it. Although, if those twin brothers of yours don't lay off on the handseys, I'm going to have to break them." His demeanor had turned from nonchalant to menacing in a single second as he turned to Ginny.

"It's not their fault! They are led by a different part of their bodies than their heads!" Ginny said defensively.


End file.
